My mission is to educate people about what is in our food. Food ingredient labels can be confusing, and hard to figure out what all those ingredients are. No judgements, no suggestions on what to eat, just cold hard facts about what is in our food, what it does. I plan to compile ingredients lists from national food. And find definitions of the ingredients that are hard to say, let alone, figure out what it is exactly.

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

High Fructose Corn Syrup

This sickly-sweet sugar substitute occurs when fructose (a Monosacchride, one of the simplest forms of sugar) combines with 100 percent pure corn syrup.

Research studies have yielded mixed results about the possible adverse effects of consuming high-fructose corn syrup. Although high-fructose corn syrup is chemically similar to table sugar (sucrose), concerns have been raised because of how high-fructose corn syrup is processed. Some believe that your body reacts differently to high-fructose corn syrup than it does to other types of sugar. But research about high-fructose corn syrup is evolving.

The first long-term study of the effects of high-fructose corn syrup consumption on obesity in lab animals -- monitored weight gain, body fat and triglyceride levels in rats with access to high-fructose corn syrup over a period of six months. Compared to animals eating only rat chow, rats on a diet rich in high-fructose corn syrup showed characteristic signs of a dangerous condition known in humans as the metabolic syndrome, including abnormal weight gain, significant increases in circulating triglycerides and augmented fat deposition, especially visceral fat around the belly. Male rats in particular ballooned in size: Animals with access to high-fructose corn syrup gained 48 percent more weight than those eating a normal diet. "In humans, these same characteristics are known risk factors for high blood pressure, coronary artery disease, cancer and diabetes." Miriam Bocarsly

While the corn used to produce high fructose corn syrup may or may not have been produced using genetically enhanced corn, existing scientific literature and current testing results indicate corn DNA cannot be detected in measurable amounts in high fructose corn syrup.

Opinion: Sweetsurprise.com is an advocate of high fructose corn syrup. Stating that it's natural because it is made from corn. However, the above statement from them says that minimal corn DNA is actually detected in it... hmmmm. Kind of confusing. And it saying is may use genetically enhanced corn. Let's look into that a bit...

The study found that three strains of modded crops -- MON 810 and MON 863, which are resistant to pests, and NK 603, which is foritified to withstand weed killer -- significantly disrupted the blood chemistry of rats who ate them.

With each of the three strains of maize, researchers say they found unusual concentrations of hormones and other compounds in the blood and urine of the tested rats, suggesting each strain impaired kidney and liver function. By the end of the trials, the female rats that were fed MON 863 had elevated blood-sugar levels and raised concentrations of fatty substances called triglycerides. Both are potential precursors of diabetes, according to [lead author Gilles-Eric Séralini of the University of Caen in France].